Ucluelet First Nation

The Ucluelet are Canadian Indians and refer to themselves as Ucluelet First Nation or Yu- cluth -aht. The latter means as much as "safe haven" or "safe landing place ". They live on Vancouver Island off the Pacific coast. They speak Wakashan - but only ruled that language in 2001, ten men and ten women - and are among the Nuu- chah- nulth. Compared to the Canadian government, they are nulth Nuu- chah- Tribal Council represented mainly by the, but have come together to Maa- nulth also group which consists of five Nuu- chah- nulth tribes.

The Ucluelet spread over nine reserves in southern Clayoquot Sound, of which 5 are Ittatsoo 1 and Kleykleyhous with more than 60 ha each the greatest. Overall, the reserves include about 200 ha, in which only every third Yu- cluth -aht lives. In April 2010 620 people were listed as members of the First Nation, of which 204 lived in their own reserve, especially in Ittatsoo 1 15 more living in other reserves, 401 outside the reserves ..

Chief is Violet Mundy, who is advised by six councilors.

Language

Like other Nuu- chah- nulth groups also try the Yu- cluth -aht to revive the language in its cultural context. This is even more difficult, since none of them has a higher academic degree. Thus, the 20 remaining eloquent speaker are encouraged the boy to teach their language. In addition, a Resource Library Centre was set up, are collected in the interviews with elders and fishermen. These should be integrated into the language project, where the focus is on health and healing, religion and philosophy, songs, speeches and stories. On the official website will also soon be a history of the band appear.

History

The oral tradition of the Yu- cluth -aht know of several groups that lived in the vicinity of the present-day village of Ucluelet. Like all Nuu- chah- nulth they had a designated as Haw'iih chief, at least one central place and a claimed area ( hahuuti ). But these closely related groups combined, despite repeated wars with each other, so that today's Yu- cluth -aht of a compound of the former seven groups have emerged. Only the Toquaht continued to live in two settlements on the Ucluelet Inlet, although they are very closely connected with the neighbors.

1860 was the first white settlers, Captain Stuart from Nanaimo, Ucluelet. A little later the Sutton brothers came from Seattle. This bought large plots of land at Kennedy Lake and built the first sawmill.

In the twenties, some Japanese families tried their luck as a fisherman, but the salmon income declined and the provincial government limited the catch. By 1930 all of 60 Japanese and 18 white families lived in the village. The attack of Japan on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led the government to intern all Japanese. Of these, only a few returned after the war.

By linking the town to Port Alberni (1959) and the advance of the timber industry in the character of the area changed radically. Of the old trees, only a fraction remained, the ecological consequences and thus the consequences for the Yu- cluth -aht were profound. In addition, they benefit so far only slightly from tourism, which has taken no later than the construction of the Pacific Rim National Park in 2001, an upswing.

2006 included the five groups of the Maa- nulth First Nations, which in addition to Yu- cluth -aht the Toquaht, the Huu -ay -aht First Nations and the Ka: ' yu: ' k't'h '/ Che: k ' tles7et'h ' and the Uchucklesaht Tribe belong to the province of British Columbia and the State of Canada signed an agreement on land rights, the Maa- nulth Final Agreement.

With this agreement, which affects approximately 250 km ² of land, the parties have agreed on rights and duties. For the Yu- cluth -aht so affected 199 ha of former Reserve, 5147 ha additional land and 92 ha of Canada and British Columbia acquired land. For this country, have the First Nations legislative power and it is determined precisely when provincial or federal law, these laws force breaks. In addition, rural districts have been established, which may acquire the Maa- nulth peoples and then subject to the same law. Overall, they get that all rights to the natural resources and the forests. At the same time they should be prohibited hunting and fishing. Later than 10 years after entry into force of the Treaty, the participating bands must have sent a director to the board of the two districts of Alberni - Clayoquot and Comox - Strathcona. In addition, the Government undertakes transfers in the amount of 21.6 million CAD, a total of around 73 million CAD, to rights of use of their resources 380,000 or 1.2 million CAD ​​per year.

On their land the five groups may collect taxes, but must allow the participation of their groups not belonging to settlers. In addition, the groups involved must take all measures to protect their cultural heritage. This also applies to cultural assets that are in the collections of the Royal British Columbia Museum, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Parks Canada.

Finally, after a transitional period lose all provisions of the Indian Act to be valid. Now, all participants are asked to ratify the treaty. In June 2009, the federal government ratified the treaty.